Beat procrastination

This study session, leave procrastination behind once and for all and eat the proverbial elephant in the room that is your degree.

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Studying is no different, especially when it comes to assignments.

When faced with the proverbial elephant of an essay, it can be easy to put it off and put it off and put it off… taking it one bite at a time is the perfect way to avoid the last-minute rush to get it finished before the deadline.

Here’s how:

Time –

What do tomatoes, productivity and time have in common? The Pomodoro Technique, which is named after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer the creator used in university.

In a nutshell, set a timer for 25 minutes and focus on one specific task until the timer goes off. This is one ‘pomodoro.’ Take a 5-minute break, then reset your timer and work for another 25 minutes.

After 4 work intervals, take a longer (15-30 minutes) break, then start over.

This method is perfect for squeezing in shorter work periods or for maintaining motivation during a longer study session. After all, it’s *only* 25 minutes!

Task –

If working by the clock isn’t your cup of tea, breaking down your project into actionable steps may be a better choice.

Instead of looking at an essay as a whole, decide on what the next actionable step to complete is, such as writing an introduction.

Take a short break then focus on the very next step, which may be your first body paragraph.

Breaking your project into a list of ‘next steps’ is perfect for getting the satisfaction that comes with crossing off your to-do list. This method is just one fraction of the Getting Things Done system by David Allen.

For extra productivity superpowers, combine this method with the Pomodoro Technique above!

Bonus tip: If a task takes less than 2 minutes to complete, do it right away.

Extra bonus tip –

Still wondering where to begin? Eat that frog!

As Mark Twain famously said, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”

By getting the worst task checked off your list first, the rest of the day will be easy in comparison.

Beating procrastination can be a challenge but with one or both of these systems, you will be setting yourself up to have your most productive session yet.

————————————————————————————————————

We’re running two online workshops on procrastination and perfectionism.

Join us to learn about how to keep your procrastination in check and how to identify perfectionistic habits.

Author:Alicia Sims

Hi! My name is Alicia Sims and I am a student, wife and mother. I juggle my online study with the demands of work and family life, but I always make time to look after the health and happiness of myself and my family. In any pockets of free time I love to read, write and cook, as well as host board game nights and Dungeons and Dragons sessions.
View all posts by Alicia Sims